San Rafael Pacifics new ownership group led by Marin men

From the very beginning, Eugene Lupario and Mike Shapiro considered independent minor league baseball a winning idea for Marin County. This week, the Corte Madera residents made a big investment in its future.

Lupario and Shapiro, along with Lupario's business partner Steve Allen of Moraga, bought out San Rafael Pacifics majority owner Brian Clark to make the Pacifics — along with the Sonoma County Grapes franchise — a primarily Marin-owned group. The new organization is called Redwood Sports and Entertainment Group and takes over from Clark's Centerfield Partners.

Terms of the transaction were not released as part of a confidentiality agreement between the parties. Lupario, Shapiro and Allen were minority owners of the team last year.

"There is so much joy in this and there is so much fun. When this opportunity came up, it was hard to say no," said Lupario, who now carries the title of managing general partner. "I'm not involved in anything else with this much widespread interest. "... This is our home. We are invested in making this work and now we have the biggest stake."

Brian Clark, who owns the rights to Bay Area franchises in the original North American League and created the San Rafael team, said selling to an ownership group based in Marin made sense.

"From my perspective, (selling the team) was a great opportunity to allow local investors to grow that brand," said Clark, who lives in the East Bay. "(The deal) was something that fit with my interest in pursuing some other things. My dreams (of running a minor league baseball team) haven't changed, I just know that if it does happen in the future, it will be more locally."

The group is preparing to go before the San Rafael City Council on Monday night to ask for a new three-year lease to continue to play home games at Albert Park. The team averaged more than 700 fans per game during the season, including several sellouts.

"Our experience at Albert Park was amazingly positive," said Shapiro, who retains his president and general manager titles.

Shapiro is the former vice president general counsel for the San Francisco Giants. He also served as vice president for Turner Sports, which owned the Atlanta Braves, as well as the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers. Later, he was a vice president for the Washington Nationals. Lupario and Allen are partners in the SVS Group, a Silicon Valley staffing company.

The Sonoma County Grapes were created by the Pacifics' ownership group before last season after two other teams left the league.

The traveling squad did not play any home games, a situation that the new ownership group is unwilling to repeat. So far, the team has no home field and won't play in 2013 if that happens.

"The Grapes won't play without a home field, but bringing them back eventually is definitely part of our plan," Shapiro said.